Lions lose to Falcons 31-18

Calvin Johnson breaks all-time receiving record amongst others

There is a bright spot in the Lions 31-18 loss to the Atlanta Falcons: Calvin Johnson set the all-time receiving yards record, along with a few others.

Johnson surpassed Jerry Rice's single-season yards receiving record of 1,848 with his 10th catch in the fourth quarter Saturday night. That put Johnson over the 200-yard mark in the game against the Atlanta Falcons. He needed 182 to surpass the mark Rice set in 1995 with the San Francisco 49ers.

Johnson had more than 100 yards receiving for an eighth straight game, breaking an NFL record set by Charley Hennigan in 1961 and matched by Michael Irvin in 1995. Johnson broke another league mark with 10 receptions in a fourth game in a row.

It was Johnson's 11th game with 100 yards receiving this season, tying Irvin's NFL mark.

In the first quarter, Johnson surpassed Herman Moore's single-season franchise record of 1,686 yards.

The Game

The Atlanta Falcons have earned home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Matt Ryan matched a career high with four touchdown passes, two to Roddy White, and the Falcons led from start to finish in a 31-18 victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday night.

The Falcons (13-2) pulled away with Ryan's fourth TD pass to wide-open tight end Michael Palmer in the fourth quarter and Matt Bryant's 20-yard field goal with 3:05 left that gave them a 15-point lead.

Detroit (4-11) dropped its seventh straight game.

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